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Saturday, 29 October 2011

Managing Communication in New Product Development Process: Virtual R&D Teams and Information Technology

Item Type

Conference Paper

Author

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Author

Shamsuddin Ahmed

Author

Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid

Author

Zahari Taha

Place

University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Publisher

University of Malaya Press

Pages

495-502

Date

201112-14 July

Abstract

Literature proves the importance of the role of information technology in increasing the effectiveness of virtual R&D teams’ communication for new product development. However, the factors that make information technology construct in a virtual R&D team are still ambiguous. Managers of virtual R&D teams for new product development do not know “which type of technology should be used”. To address the gap and answer the question, the paper presents a set of factors that make a construct that contribute to effective communication strategy for virtual R&D teams. The proposed construct has been modified based on the findings of a field survey. This work empirically examines the relationship between information technology construct and its factors by employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). A measurement model is built based on the 19 preliminary chosen factors that have been extracted from literature review. The result shows that 10 factors can make a technology construct. These 10 factors can be grouped into two different constructs, namely Web-based communication and Web-based data sharing. The study findings can help new product developers to concentrate on the main factors for leading effective communications among virtual R&D team members. In addition, this work provides a guideline for software developers to create appropriate tools for virtual R&D teams.

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About Me

Nader Ale Ebrahim has
a Technology Management PhD degree from the Department of Engineering
Design and Manufacture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya
(UM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He holds a Master of Science in the
mechanical engineering from University of Tehran, Iran.